Blog Archives

Parent Child Night at WOS

1/29/2018

Every year we set aside time for children to bring their parents into their learning environments so that they can show their family the work they have been doing at school. This year, because of our growing numbers, we had three different Parent Child Nights in order to ensure that everyone could find time and space to experience the joys of Montessori!

Showing Mom the Liturgical Colors, after just one day in the Atrium.

Exploring the Books of the Bible.

Explaining the family tree of Abraham which has been filled in during weeks of study of Genesis.

Making Silence with our bodies helps prepare us for prayer.

Looking at Prophets and Maxims!

Matching up symbols, labels and definitions with The Holy Bible and the Sacraments material.

Building the Liturgical Calendar shows the patterns of the year.

Ordering the Infancy Narratives.

Setting out in order the prayers and the gestures which we pray during The Complete Rite of Baptism.

Reconciliation

1/22/2018

The second grade children at The Way of the Shepherd this year hail from three local Catholic parishes and attend their home parish for all sacramental preparation formation. In the Atrium they are also moving forward on their journey toward receiving Reconciliation and Eucharist, and spend much of their year getting ready for these great gifts! In December three second graders received their First Reconciliation, this past Saturday five second graders (as well as two older children who are entering the Catholic Church through RCIA at Easter!) celebrated this sacrament for the first time, and this coming weekend the final five second graders will have their Baptismal garment washed clean in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Part of preparing for Reconciliation includes looking more closely at the Sacrament of Baptism and the great gift of being welcomed into the sheepfold of Christ through receiving His light! From the beginning of the year the second graders have been working with the Rite of Baptism material (an extension of the Baptism work they have been doing since the age of three in the Atrium). They lay out the pictures of the nine most essential moments of the Rite and then match these to cards describing the gestures of the priest and the words that he prays. After setting them all out they are invited to pray through the Rite of Baptism with a friend.

The Rite of Reconciliation work is similar in that it includes picture, text, label, and gesture cards that are ordered by the children. While this is not the only way the children prepare for Reconciliation in the Atrium, it is one of the last and most immediate steps preceding their reception of this great sacrament!

During Baptism the child is anointed with the Oil of Catechumens.

At the end of the Rite of Baptism the parents receive a special blessing.

The Rite of Reconciliation cards are often copied to make a personal set!

In the Words of the Children...

1/16/2018

"What has Jesus said to you in the Atrium?"
- "I will save you from the darkness." (5 year old)

Enjoying the Great Light!

1/9/2018

The Liturgical Calendar, Part 2

1/2/2018

Earlier this year I posted on the Liturgical Calendar. I shared how the 1st-3rd grade children learn to label each prism of the calendar as one of the Sundays of the liturgical year, learning that each Sunday has a unique name. Then, in 4th-6th grade they might also look at the Feasts and Solemnities of the Church that are tied to a specific date. This year one very persistent third grader spent multiple Atrium sessions attempting to "get to the other tickets" and one day he made it all the way! The white tickets, shown in the picture of his work, are those which correspond with each Sunday. The yellow tickets add the Holy Days of Obligation (excepting the Ascension which, in our Diocese, is celebrated on the Seventh Sunday of Easter). To determine where these tickets fit, we looked at a published calendar for the current year and fit the tickets between the appropriate Sundays. Finally, this child was able to reach the tan tickets - something I've never had an E1 child interested in before! - and he labeled all additional feasts and solemnities of the year. While these extra tickets will not be found in every Atrium, their presence as an extension to the Liturgical Calendar were much appreciated and well used this year in our Atrium!

Parent Child Night at WOS

Reconciliation

In the Words of the Children...

Enjoying the Great Light!

The Liturgical Calendar, Part 2

Carolyn Kohlhaas

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